[FONT=Arial]Sea turtles need your help. A few of the things that have happened so far this nesting season:[/FONT] [FONT=Arial]A false crawl (turtle comes ashore to nest but returns to sea without depositing her eggs) that happened when the turtle tried to nest among stuff left on the beach.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Another false crawl that happened when people saw the turtle come ashore and got too close and took flash pictures.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial]A man called the Turtle Watch one evening and reported his dog barked and scared a turtle back into the water. More calls later in the evening about a turtle in the water looking to come onshore. Callers were asked to turn off their flashlights and leave the area, but no nest was found. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]An early morning call from a tourist reporting a turtle on the beach the night before. The walker for that area missed the tracks, because there were almost none left that had not been trampled. The area supposed to be the nest was trampled also; no eggs were found by volunteers who dug looking for them. This one will not make it if there are eggs there, it is too close to the water. Probably too many people or too much stuff on the beach deterred her from coming farther up onto the beach and a safer location for a nest. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]A turtle headed for the dune line fell into a hole and nested there; again probably too close to the water. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Another nest was missed by another walker, because it had been trampled beyond recognition. This one was found when someone on the beach told the walker about it. Volunteers were able to find those eggs. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]A turtle came ashore and crossed the beach to the base of a partially covered sea wall, where the loose sand falling off the wall collapsed on her. It appears to be a nest, but the eggs were not found.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial]Few turtles are nesting here anymore, but the ones that do come have to fight for the only nesting habitat they have, which are our beaches at night. We have lights, noise, holes, loose dogs, flashlights, lots of people, lots of stuff, fireworks, seawalls, even portable dance floors down on the beach at night, and of course the ongoing dispute over who ?owns? what. But all of this is sea turtle nesting habitat, and that is the message that needs to be conveyed to everyone who uses the beaches. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]For over a decade, the South Walton Turtle Watch has made numerous educational presentations, been the subject of countless newspaper articles, worked with the TDC and the county, and over that time the problems have gotten worse and the turtles have gotten fewer. The Turtle Watch is asking for help from the community to reach all these people on the beach at night so they know what to do, who to call if they see a turtle, how to behave to preserve nesting habitat, etc. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]South Walton Turtle Watch wants help with brainstorming ideas to solve these problems and get the message out to everyone that the beaches at night are the only sea turtle nesting habitat there is and must be respected. The very same issues that make the beach a clean, pleasant experience for people are the issues that conserve nesting habitat. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial]If you have ideas or want to work on this, contact the Turtle Watch director, Sharon Maxwell, at [EMAIL="swturtlewh@cox.net"][COLOR=#0000ff]swturtlewh@cox.net[/COLOR][/EMAIL]. [/FONT]
